This invention relates to the printing of foods and the products so printed and, more particularly, to a method of printing foods, such as iced baked goods, and the product thereof.
In the past various methods have been employed for the forming of designs or other figures on baked products. One such method has incorporated a silk screening procedure for imparting a design to cookies and other products prior to the baking of the products. Another method has employed spraying or squirting various coloring agents upon the product after baking to form a design much like, by way of example, the application of floral and other decorations to birthday cakes.
Both of these prior methods have several disadvantages. One disadvantage is that the application of the coloring agents to the products are hard to control and, thus, do not lend these methods to mass production techniques or uniform results. Another problem with both methods is that they are subject to smearing or blotting due to the consistency of the coloring agents, the methods of application, and the nature of the product to which they have been applied. Another disadvantage of the prior silk screening technique is that close tolerances are necessary in the machinery performing the method, thus rendering the machinery relatively expensive and requiring special design and construction for the decorating of foods.
The present invention overcomes each of the several disadvantages of these prior techniques. In the present invention, edible inks may be transferred to a hard icing by a printing method, not unlike standard printing techniques employed in the industry for other non-food products. The use of such standardized printing techniques is subject to easy control and smearing or blotting of the inks can be avoided. In the preferred method and product of the present invention, essentially standardized printing machinery used generally throughout the printing industry may be employed without substantial modifications to the structure of the machinery, thus, substantially reducing the capital investment necessary to practice the method and form the products of the present invention. A number of inks of differing colors may be easily and rapidly printed upon a given product without runs, smearing or blotting to produce a striking final product of multicolor design. In the present invention an icing and ink combination has been discovered which avoids blotting of the ink, results in excellent adherence of the inks, and minimizes the breaking of the surface printed, the latter of which might otherwise result in damage to the product or fouling of the printing equipment or both.
In one principal aspect of the present invention, a method of forming a printed food product comprises the steps of shaping an icing mixture to form a surface, drying the icing mixture to form a hard, non-porous icing surface, transferring by printing at least one edible ink to the hard surface of the icing, and drying the ink.
In another principal aspect of the present invention, the icing mixture before drying has a specific gravity of between about 1.0 and 2.5 and, preferably, between about 1.05 and 1.5.
In still another principal aspect of the present invention, the icing may be formed on a substantially flat surface of a hard baked product prior to printing.
In still another principal aspect of the present invention, a printed food product comprises a dried, hard, non-porous icing having a surface dried from an icing mixture, and an edible ink printed on said surface.
In still another principal aspect of the present invention, the hard, non-porous icing is dried from an icing mixture having a specific gravity of between about 1.0 and 2.5 and, preferably, between about 1.05 and 1.5.
In still another principal aspect of the present invention, the icing of the product may be coated upon a substantially flat surface of a hard baked product prior to printing.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be fully understood upon a consideration of the following detailed description.